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In populations, blood pressures fit a normal distribution, but the attendant risks of heart disease and stroke increase curvilinearly with increasing levels of blood pressure, without any obvious breakpoint ( Fig. 63-1 ). Thus, the separation of normal from high blood pressure is arbitrary, and the definition of hypertension has been a moving target.
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Blood pressure is the force with which blood pushes against the artery walls as it travels through the body. Like air in a balloon, blood fills arteries to a certain capacity—and just as too much air pressure can cause damage to a balloon, too muc...
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Hypertension is the term used to describe high blood pressure. Blood pressure readings are measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and usually given as two numbers. For example, 120 over 80 (written as 120/80 mmHg. The top number is your systoli...
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The following Clinical Topic Tour provides an overview of hypertension (HTN) and was adapted from materials published by the NHLBI.
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Also known as high blood pressure, a condition in which too much force is exerted by the blood as it travels through the body's arteries. There are two types of hypertension: primary and secondary. Primary, or essential, hypertension is caused by ...
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Hypertension is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke, leading causes of morbidity and mortality in North America. Concern has been raised that there is inadequate outpatient detection, evaluation, and treatment of hypertension, and that this is resulting in increased hospital admissions with complications of untreated hypertension: heart failure, and end-stage renal disease .
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Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it flows through them. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the body's ...
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The National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP) was established in 1972 by the National Institute of Health to translate research results on the health hazards of high blood pressure into clinical and public health practice. Before 190...
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Hypertension is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the body's tissues.
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Hypertension is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it flows through them. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the body's tissues.
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Hypertension is high blood pressure . Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it flows through them.
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Pericarditis is an inflammation of the two layers of the thin, sac-like membrane that surrounds the heart. This membrane is called the pericardium, so the term pericarditis means inflammation of the pericardium.
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Pericarditis is a condition in which the sac-like covering around the heart (pericardium) becomes inflamed. See also: Bacterial pericarditis
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A heart attack is the death of, or damage to, part of the heart muscle because its blood supply is severely reduced or stopped.
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A heart attack is when blood vessels that supply blood to the heart are blocked, preventing enough oxygen from getting to the heart. The heart muscle dies or becomes permanently damaged. Your doctor calls this a myocardial infarction.
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A myocardial infarction, or heart attack, is the death or damage of part of the heart muscle because the supply of blood to the heart muscle is severely reduced or stopped.
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A heart attack is the death of, or damage to, part of the heart muscle because the supply of blood to the heart muscle is severely reduced or stopped.
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Coronary artery disease is a narrowing or blockage of the arteries and vessels that provide oxygen and nutrients to the heart. It is caused by atherosclerosis , an accumulation of fatty materials on the inner linings of arteries. The resulting blo...
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Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. CHD is also called coronary artery disease. See also: Angina; Heart attack; Unstable angina.
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Coronary artery disease is a stenosis (narrowing) or blockage of the arteries and vessels that provide oxygenated blood to the heart . It is caused by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), an accumulation of fatty plaque on the inner lining...
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The heart, a powerful muscle that beats over 50,000 times in one day, is fed the blood and energy it needs through small tubes called coronary arteries (see Figure 1). Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common cause of death and disability ...
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Stress is defined as an organism's total response to environmental demands or pressures. When stress was first studied in the 1950s, the term was used to denote both the causes and the experienced effects of these pressures. More recently, however...
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Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another. Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear. The source of this uneasiness i...
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Disturbance in the physiology of the individual. Among psychologists and psychiatrists, stress refers to a psychological reaction within the person to events that generate strong emotion that cannot be easily regulated; for other social scientists...
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Stress is defined as an organism's total response to environmental demands or pressures. When stress was first studied in the 1950s, the term was used to denote both the causes and the experienced effects of these pressures. Since the 1990s, howev...
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Stress is an individual's physical and mental reaction to environmental demands or pressures.
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Stress is a term that refers to the sum of the physical, mental, and emotional strains or tensions on a person. Feelings of stress in humans result from interactions between persons and their environment that are perceived as straining or exceedin...
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Over the course of evolution, the human mind and body have developed means of handling stressful situations. Over the short term, such stress response pathways are highly adaptive, allowing a person to manage his or her resources in order to navig...
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Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland makes too much thyroid hormone. The condition is often referred to as an "overactive thyroid."
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Hyperthyroidism is the overproduction of thyroid hormones by an overactive thyroid.
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Hyperthyroidism is the overproduction of thyroid hormones by an overactive thyroid gland.
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Hyperthyroidism is the condition that reflects excessive concentrations of thyroid hormones, due to any cause. The resulting hypermetabolic state causes increased heat production and accelerates many of the bodies' processes. Common causes are Gra...
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Hyperthyroidism is the overproduction of thyroid hormones by an overactive thyroid.
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Sick sinus syndrome is a collection of heart rhythm disorders that include: Sinus bradycardia - slow heart rates from the natural pacemaker of the heart; Tachycardias - fast heart rates; Bradycardia-tachycardia - alternating slow and fast heart rh...
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